Dancing to explore relationships

Artistic director Antonia Grove is joined by dancer Ben Duke, originally from Chichester, and performer/musician Scott Smith for May, a darkly-humorous modern-day romance told in dance, text and song.

They offer the show in Chichester’s Minerva Theatre on February 1, the first night of a new tour which returns to the stage a piece they performed last year.

May is the story - set within a reading group - of a woman living on the edge and a man living in his head. When their worlds collide, only the truth can save them.

“It’s her relationship with her social worker or careworker Douglas,” Antonia explains. “Douglas is part of this reading group and he comes to the group with his story which is semi-autobiographical, based on his own personal experiences as a careworker and the relationship that forms between him and May.

“It is quite dark in parts because she has had quite a troubled life in some ways. She has gone around from pillar to post as a child. She has had a dysfunction upbringing.”

Probe was founded in 2004 by Antonia and by Theo Clinkard who came together as dancers, artistic directors, curators and producers to commission work to perform as a duo.

It was the brainchild of Antonia who was looking for a way to progress artistic ideas formed through years working as a dancer with different companies and choreographers and as a choreographer in her own right.

After four years of successful production and touring, Theo has been furthering his career as a designer of theatre, opera and dance elsewhere, while Antonia has continued to develop projects for Probe as sole artistic director.

Tickets on 01243 781312.